Never Go Back
by Edeline Celena
Summary: They couldn't erase what had happened. But in trying, Katara and Aang realized there was more truth to that simple saying than they could have ever imagined. Sometimes, love really is brightest in the dark.
1. A Stranger in the Dark

_A/N: I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, but I haven't forgotten about this fandom; I've just been too busy reading what others have written :). I'm not really sure what prompted me to write this, but it's partly inspired by something that almost happened to a friend of a friend. Anyways, I hope it's decent. The story takes place sometime (anytime) after the war. I purposely didn't mention ages, so you guys (the readers) can fill in the missing info however you like :D. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything._

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><p><strong>Chapter I: A Stranger in the Dark<strong>

The last of the rain fell from the bleak, gray sky and settled lightly on the ground. For a moment, a brief space of time, the world seemed to sleep. Then, as if waking from a deep slumber, everything sprang into action. High above, nestled in the treetops of a nameless forest the birds began to sing, their calls drawing the attention of several little children in the nearby village. On the forest floor, the woodland animals scurried to and fro resuming their activities as if the storm had hardly struck. In the village, the children splashed and played in the puddles while their parents immediately headed to the fields to examine the crops after the long awaited and much needed rainfall. In the quaint little village, it seemed as if nearly everyone was out and about save for two, living in an isolated house.

"Is it still raining?" Sokka asked, not looking up from his meal as Katara came down from her room.

The waterbender shook her head, rolling her eyes. "No, it stopped. If you took a minute to stop stuffing your face, you'd know."

"I'm hungry," was her brother's reply and Katara just rolled her eyes again.

"You're always hungry," she said, reaching for a lychee nut only to have Momo screech at her. Katara sighed, handing Momo the lychee nut that he was trying to take from her.

"What can I say? They have good food here."

Katara resisted the urge to tell her brother not to talk with his mouth full for the hundredth time. Sokka said that just about everywhere they went. Normally, Toph or Suki would have teased him about that but neither of the two of them was there at the moment; Suki had was still training new recruits on Kyoshi and Toph was currently in Gaoling, having made a deal to spend at least one month a year with her parents in return for her freedom to do as she liked (and not be treated as a helpless blind girl). It felt somewhat strange to be staying with just Aang and Sokka in a quaint little village on some island between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, but she wasn't entirely sad. This was the original group, so to speak. Smiling to herself, Katara gazed out the window. The outline full moon hung low in the sky and a soft breeze was rustling the treetops causing drops of water to fall towards the ground and giving the impression it was still raining. Katara would have gone to the lake nearby to do some waterbending, but it was already dark out and ever since the three of them had come to this village, she hadn't been able to waterbend by herself. She knew it wasn't the place itself that made her nervous; the surrounding forest and the lake were actually quite peaceful. She wasn't quite sure if it was the people, either. All the villagers she had met had been very friendly and kind. But still, for some odd reason, she couldn't bring herself to waterbend in the dark all alone.

"Do you need something?" Sokka asked, noticing his sister was still there.

She shook her head. "I thought I heard Aang come back, but he's not here. I'll just go back up to my room."

Sokka made a face. "I don't understand you. You spend every minute with him and you never complain but if we were locked in a closet together, you'd go insane."

"You're my brother," she replied. "I spent my whole life with you."

"So? You'll probably spend the rest of your life with Aang."

Katara flushed. "Whatever. Besides, if Suki was here you'd spend every minute you could with her or if Toph was here, you'd be playing pranks on the villagers with her."

"Probably," Sokka admitted, working on his third peach as Katara just returned to her room. She was bored out of her mind without Aang around, but he had gone out earlier on an errand, the details of which were still unclear to her. So instead of doing nothing, Katara decided to be productive and write some letters. She'd been meaning to send one to Suki, one to her family back home, and one to the kind old village leader who had given the three of them the beautiful little cottage-like house to use while they stayed there. He had given it Aang assuming it would be easier for the young Avatar to live close enough to the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom that he could go to either nation in the event of an emergency; Zuko and King Kuei were, needless to say, pleased that they wouldn't have to send messengers all the way to the Southern Air Temple or the South Pole for a while yet. Even if the village leader was too busy to come see them himself, he often sent letters asking how they were doing and if they needed any supplies or anything, so Katara had taken it upon herself to answer his letters as soon as they came and assured him the three of them were content and if the need arose, they'd find food for themselves. In spite of that, the old leader kept sending letters and as his latest one was still sitting on her desk, Katara set herself to writing another one in reply.

Downstairs, Sokka had finished the last of his snack when he heard a knock on the front door. Grumbling to himself and wondering why the airbender was knocking when he had a key to the house, Sokka made his way to the front door and opened it, surprised to find a burly, young man standing in the doorway. He was about Sokka's age, had piercing amber eyes and his dark hair hung loosely around him, framing his face. He was wet and judging by the glum expression on his face, it was safe to say he was miserable.

"Sorry to bother you," the man said, flashing a smile. "But, could you spare a meal and a towel for a traveler."

"Uh…sure," Sokka said, standing aside and letting the man enter.

"Thanks."

He led the man into the kitchen. "Help yourself to some food," the warrior said, as he heard Katara running down the stairs.

"Sokka, have you…?" she began, but she stopped when she noticed the stranger. He smiled cordially at the waterbender, but Katara didn't return the gesture.

"Your wife?" the man asked Sokka.

"Sister," Sokka corrected. As soon as he said it, he wished he hadn't. The man's expression had changed slightly and his eyes lit up with an emotion the warrior could only compare to lust. To be honest, Sokka didn't quite like the way he was staring at his sister. Even if he'd been told by countless young bachelors that the beautiful waterbender was quite the catch, he didn't like it when men looked at his little sister like a thing they craved. He'd seen countless men look at girls like that and privately found it slightly, for lack of a more sophisticated term, creepy.

"Ah. Pleasure to meet you," the stranger said, holding out his hand.

Katara just blinked, taking a step back and mumbling something incoherent, before dashing upstairs.

"I'll get you a towel or something," Sokka said, dismissing Katara's odd behavior and disappearing down the hall to the a small room where some supplies were kept. Opening the door, he stepped into the small closet, sighing in irritation when he realized the extra towels were on the highest shelf, just beyond his reach. He turned to go out and apologize to the traveler, but much to his surprise, the young man was standing just outside the door with a smirk on his face. Sokka heard the door click shut just as he opened his mouth to speak and something was jammed into the handles to prevent the door from opening. Sokka threw his weight against it, but it wouldn't budge. From somewhere outside, he heard the sound of someone going up the stairs and hoped it was Aang. For a split second, everything was deathly silent and then he heard a muffled scream followed by a thud. Something fell on the second floor and Sokka held his breath, hoping against hope it was just Momo fooling around with Katara as he sometimes did. But he could still hear her muffled voice and though he couldn't quite make out what she was saying, he could hear the several crashes that followed it. More muffled talking was heard and, cursing the thick walls that made muffled the sound of everything, strained his ears to hear what was going on. But in a matter of seconds, he heard someone walking calmly down the stairs before he heard the front door being thrown open.

Aang had never been more thankful to be on his way home than he was now. He was famished and looking forward to eating whatever Katara had made for dinner. He felt somewhat bad for leaving all the household chores to her, so he often did as much as he could, but Katara always cooked their meals and no matter how tired she was, she made whatever they all wanted. It was surprising considering how many arguments she and Sokka had gotten into over food during their travels. He'd always complained that she never make more than two types of dishes (none of which were his favorites). But now that she was, Sokka had actually told her not to go to all that trouble. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have been strange, but considering how much Sokka loved food, to see him refusing food was a strange sight.

As strange as the sight of Sokka refusing food was, a stranger sight met Aang as he neared the house. The front door was thrown wide open and a young stranger, who, ironically, looked vaguely familiar, was running hurriedly down the path, looking quite nervous. He passed Aang in a flash and the airbender had half a mind to run after him, but then he noticed neither Sokka nor Katara were chasing the man out and he hurried up the path, wondering what could have happened to them. If the man was running, he must have been so for a reason and, assuming the man had done something to anger Sokka, it wasn't like Sokka not to give chase.

He entered the house only to find everything in place. In the sitting room, none of the furniture had been overturned or destroyed and the kitchen was completely intact. There was a stack of used dishes on the counter as usual, but other than that, everything seemed to be as he had left it. The only thing different was the little puddles of water on the floor that seemed to lead out the front door and Momo screeching in an uncharacteristically angry manner. Aang was about to head out again, when he heard Sokka pounding furiously on the other side of the locked storage room door.

"What are you doing in there?" Aang asked, once Sokka had been freed.

Sokka just grumbled his explanation before suddenly remembering Katara. Exchanging glances, the airbender and the warrior dashed up the stairs and into her room, neither one quite prepared for the gruesome sight that greeted them.


	2. Scarred

_A/N: Here's Chapter Two. I'm not really sure if the rating for this story is correct, but it's better to be safe than sorry, so i changed it. There's nothing explicit like a lemon or anything in this chapter (mainly because I can't write one and I don't think I'll ever be able to) and I tried to keep it as T-rated as possible, even though it's technically M-rated material, I guess. Anyways, I hope this isn't too bad. Happy readings and thanks for all the reviews so far! ^^_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything._

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><p><strong>Chapter II: Scarred<strong>

If Aang hadn't mastered the Avatar state, he was sure he would have gone into it then. Beside him, Sokka looked torn between hunting down the stranger and killing him on the spot by running a sword through him or running a sword through himself. Katara's room was a mess; the floor was littered with crushed flower stems, panda lily petals from the flowers Aang had given her, and broken glass from the vase. A painting on the wall had been fallen to the ground and lay haphazardly on her bed, its frame smashed. Her chair had been overturned and the drawers of her desk lay smashed on the other side of the wall, their contents strewn about all over the floor. Katara herself was curled up at the foot of her bed in nothing but her bindings and staring blankly at the wall, clutching Kya's necklace in a tight grip. The remnants of her dress lay off to the side and it was evident by the large tear that it had been forced off. Aang stood rooted to the spot, but Sokka was by her side in an instant, gently calling her name despite her blank stare and her protests, telling him to leave. Wordlessly, Sokka pulled her so she was facing them, but she wouldn't meet their gazes.

"Katara, what happened?" Sokka asked, softly. His sister was still too absorbed in her own thoughts to answer back. She seemed as if something unbelievable happened and as if she couldn't quite form words to explain what had just taken place. "Did he…?"

"No," was her response when she realized Sokka was addressing her. "I bloodbended him away before he could."

Sokka breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't know who that jerk was, but I promise I'll find him and put him in his place," Sokka said fiercely, giving her a hug. He was on his feet in an instant and nearly out the front door before Aang caught up with him.

"Sokka, where are you going?" he demanded.

"That jerk took advantage of us," the older boy hissed. "You think I'm going to let him get away after what he tried to pull? He can't have gone far."

"Maybe you should just forget about him for now and focus on Katara."

"Keep an eye on her, Aang. I'm going to find that jerk and when I do, he better be ready to die." Sokka seethed, stalking off in the direction the stranger had left.

Aang sighed and returned indoors. Katara hadn't moved since they had left and her gaze hadn't shifted in the slightest. She barely took notice of the airbender, even when he knelt beside her called her name.

"Katara?" Aang tried, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She flinched and recoiled at his touch but then met his gaze briefly remembering it was only Aang. Despite the tears that were collecting in her eyes, Aang could read the fear in her gaze. Whatever had happened, it had clearly rattled her. In all the time he had known her, Aang had never once seen Katara look more terrified than she looked now. Her cerulean eyes were wide with fear and disbelief and for the first time he noticed she was shaking slightly. Aang frowned to himself, wishing he had been there to protect her. Perhaps his presence would have deterred the stranger from going after Katara, but he'd never know. Aang had always been taught to avoid violence but after seeing Katara so broken and scared, for a fraction of a second, he hoped Sokka _did_ find the man and put him in his place.

"What happened?" Aang asked again.

"I'm not…I don't know," she admitted and that same expression of disbelief worked its way across her features again. "This isn't a dream, is it?"

Aang shook his head. Katara just cast a sidelong glance at him and sighed. She knew he was blaming himself for what had happened; she didn't need to read his gaze when it was expressed clearly on his face. It was just his nature sometimes, as it was hers; it was something neither of them had quite stopped doing.

"Please don't," the waterbender whispered suddenly, shifting her position slightly. "None of this was your fault, so don't feel guilty."

Aang couldn't help the small smile that worked its way across his face. Even after such an ordeal, Katara managed to worry about him instead of herself. But his smile instantly turned into a frown when he noticed her expression. She wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Katara, what happened?" He asked again, seriously.

"Nothing," she whispered, looking at the floor.

"You're lying," he said, softly.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

Aang sighed in defeat. Sokka's explanation, though coherent, was still somewhat lacking and he hadn't understood much other than that a stranger had asked for a meal and temporary shelter and then had gone after the waterbender after locking Sokka in the storage room. He had no idea why and at present he had no inclination to find out. All that mattered right now was making sure Katara was okay.

"Did he hurt you?" the airbender wondered, dreading the possibility that her answer might be yes.

"No," she replied. "Not much, anyways."

"Are you…?"

"I'm fine."

Wordlessly, he helped her up. It was only then he noticed she was still holding on to her mother's necklace.

"It's not broken, is it?" he wondered.

Katara shook her head. "I managed to save it, but…" She broke off suddenly and hurried to the far end of her room, pushing aside the broken items and the broken desk drawers until she found what she was looking for. Like many other things in the room, the bracelet Aang had gotten her for her sixteenth birthday was broken. Outside, the sun was slowly sinking, its light partially obscured by lingering rain clouds. In the faint light that penetrated Katara's room and filled it with a red-orange glow, the jewels created a mystifying effect but Katara hardly noticed it. She picked up the pieces of the bracelet and fought back tears.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I should have made an attempt to save it considering how much you spent for it."

Aang shrugged. "It could have been worse. He could have hurt you."

Katara just fell into his arms. "I happened to like that bracelet," she said, defensively.

"I can get you another one," he offered as he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's not the same," she replied, hollowly.

"I know." Aang admitted. But the bracelet was the least of his worries at the moment. Normally, if something was wrong, Katara would have opened up immediately. But he sensed something was different. She could barely meet his gaze and though her expression was currently neutral her eyes held a note of fear and panic Aang had never known them to possess before. Katara was tense and uneasy and Aang didn't care what he had to do, but he made a silent promise to help restore the waterbender to her old self. He had quite some time to ponder how he was going to go about doing that, because shortly afterwards Katara had disappeared for a while to change and an it was even longer while until Sokka came back. In that time, Aang had managed to clean her room and fix whatever could be fixed and make some dinner, though he still hadn't come up with any ideas. All through dinner, Katara was quiet and wouldn't look at anyone. Sokka kept trying to engage her in the conversation, but she hardly spoke and kept her gaze fixed on her meal in front of her and replied in monosyllables if she spoke at all. As soon as she was done, Katara disappeared to her room again leaving Aang and Sokka all alone.

"So did you find the guy?" Aang asked Sokka.

"No," Sokka replied. "But I found out he was here before. Apparently one of the girls in the village knew him, said he used to date her sister or something like that when they were in school together in the Fire Nation."

"Oh. That's not very helpful."

"Tell me about it," Sokka grumbled. "I wish I knew what he did. Whatever happened, it must have really freaked her out because she's acting like _that _again."

"What do you mean?" Aang asked.

Sokka sighed. "After our mom died, our family was a mess. Katara managed to step up and take on a whole lot of responsibilities. But sometimes, she likes to think she's strong when she knows she's going to break. For the first few weeks after our mother's death, I could tell she was really scared. She tried her best not to show it, but you know how she is sometimes." Aang nodded and Sokka continued. "I think she was really convinced our family was going to fall apart and to tell you the truth, I think it might have if it hadn't been for her. But anyways, like I said, she was acting like everything would be okay but, at night, I'm pretty sure she cried herself to sleep. I know I did for a few weeks because I wanted my mom back. But Katara's always been like that; it's her way of coping, I guess. She tries to deal with everything on her own and acts like nothing's wrong so she can just forget the bad memories, I guess."

"Maybe," the airbender mused.

Sokka suddenly slammed his chopsticks down. "We have to find out what happened," he said, resolutely. "Go talk to her, Aang."

"Why me?" the airbender demanded. "What makes you think she'll tell me anything?"

"You're…well…you," Sokka said, giving his friend an encouraging smile. Aang looked less than convinced and Sokka chuckled. "Come on, Aang. No one ever said dating my sister would be easy."

Aang sighed as Sokka finished the last of his meal. "Fine, but if I don't learn anything don't say I didn't warn you."

He found Katara sitting in front of the long mirror in her room, staring blankly at her reflection. Her cerulean eyes no longer held that panicked note but they didn't twinkle either. She didn't say anything when Aang took a seat beside her but kept her gaze fixed on the mirror, lost in thought. For a few minutes, Aang didn't dare to break the silence, but after a short while, he found the stillness almost deafening and oppressing and finally spoke up.

"It's a nice mirror," he joked, hoping the comment would draw Katara out of her pensive mood. She didn't say anything and Aang sighed inwardly. "Katara, Sokka and I can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong. Honestly, you two shouldn't worry so much," she answered.

"If nothing's wrong, why are you acting like this?"

She didn't answer his question. Instead, she asked a seemingly unrelated one. "Do I really stand out?"

"Yes," he said, slowly. "But in a good way."

"Is it a good way?" she wondered, dully.

"What's going on?"

Katara sighed. "I told you, I don't want to talk about it. Besides, it's not like it wasn't obvious."

"So he forced himself onto you?" Aang asked bluntly, shuddering at the thought of what she might have been forced to endure.

Katara flinched but nodded, drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms around them. "But I bloodbended him away before he could do much." Not that it made much of a difference, she thought, bitterly, recalling how her move had saved her but had done nothing to lessen the man's rage. She could still picture the stranger's intense gaze, the way he had undressed her with his eyes.

"But why would a random stranger try to…?"

"I don't think he was a stranger," Katara said softly. "He knew my name."

"Lots of people know your name," Aang objected.

Katara shook her head. "But he said he saw me before and I think he was telling the truth. I've seen him somewhere before, but I just can't remember where."

"He was probably trying to scare you into submission or something. Try not to think about it."

Katara nodded.

"You should get some rest." Aang said, gently. Even though it wasn't quite late, Katara looked tired and she either was or didn't have the energy to argue with him because she wordlessly complied. The airbender gave her a small smile before making his way out on the pretense of keeping the Water Tribe warrior from eating all their food. He closed the door, plunging her room into darkness. Normally, the darkness never bothered her, but she suddenly found she was terrified of it. She felt like the stranger was hiding in the darkness, waiting to pounce on her. She shuddered, curling up and trying to focus on more pleasant things, but she couldn't. The memories kept playing over and over in her mind and she found she that, like ink stains on paper, she couldn't remove them. She kept picturing the stranger's intense gaze, the way he had taken in her appearance, and his eerie smile. She could still feel the way his skin brushed against hers and she shivered. Even now, after hours of pondering, she had no idea how it had happened. He had entered her room so quietly and gently tugged on her braid, the way Aang sometimes did, so she had assumed it was the airbender but she had been shocked to find a strange man standing in her room. He hadn't wasted any time in trying to get what he wanted; in the span of a couple of minutes, he had professed his affection for her and, without knowing how, Katara found her back pressed against the wall as the stranger whispered something to her. She had been too stunned to comprehend what he was saying and do anything about it at first, but when she had grasped the severity of the situation, naturally, she tried to free herself from the stranger's grasp. But it hadn't been any use; his iron-like grip held her firmly in place and for perhaps the first time in her life, her fear had exceeded the terror she had felt witnessing her mother's death. For a split second, she was engulfed in the feeling of utter helplessness and wished herself dead, but miraculously, his grip had loosened. Katara had taken the opportunity to attempt to escape, but the stranger seemed to have anticipated that. He had wrapped one arm around her, while the other slowly undid her dress. Her struggling had all been in vain because even though she wouldn't comply, he had managed to tear it off somehow. By then, she'd lost all sense of wondering; the stranger's intentions no longer plagued her mind. The only thing she was focused on was escape. She'd made a beeline for the door, but had been flung onto her bed instead. He had mentioned something about soul mates while trying to undo her bindings. Despite her horror, Katara had put up a struggle and thankfully, the stranger had released his grip on her momentarily, allowing her to free her hands. The instant they were free, she had tried to bend, but the stranger nearly succeeded in grabbing her again. Thankfully, all her waterbending practice on certain moves and stances came in handy and she'd managed to kick him away and wriggle free before bloodbending him out the door, but not before he nearly destroyed her room while trying to get to her. It was sometime after that, that Sokka and Aang had found her.

Even though the stranger hadn't succeeded, Katara was shocked at what had happened. She was trying to convince herself the whole thing was a dream, but the condition of her room and the state she was in proved otherwise. She was shivering despite the summer warmth and she felt like crying. She'd only felt like this once before and since then, she liked thinking she had done a good job of conveying the impression she was okay. But she knew Sokka and Aang knew her better than anyone and that it would only be a matter of time before they guessed what she was really feeling if they didn't already know. As much as she wanted to rid herself of this secret, she couldn't bring herself to tell them about the ordeal.

Thinking about it just made her feel worse and Katara realized she would never get to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes and attempted to get some sleep, she'd hear the stranger's voice whispering how he'd return to find her, how true love united people no matter the distance. Just thinking about his words made her nervous. Why was a stranger acting like he knew her and loved her? Had he been following her around? The thought was disconcerting and too alarming to entertain. She only hoped Sokka and Aang wouldn't find out.

Thinking about them made her wish they were there, but it was her fault they weren't. They'd been trying to help her all evening, but she hadn't let them. In any case, hearing their muffled voices talking in the sitting room, she assumed they had more important things to worry about. She didn't know that they had been talking about her for some time. Absentmindedly, she got out of bed and took a few steps towards the door but, realizing she had no idea where she was going, she just sat huddled in the dark, thinking things over again. That was how Aang found her later that night after he and Sokka had decided to turn in. Katara was half asleep, huddled against the foot of her bed and Aang just took a seat beside her.

"Couldn't get to sleep?"

"No," Katara said, yawning. "I can't, not here."

"You can sleep in my room if you want. I'll sleep…"

Her door was suddenly thrown open and Katara cried out in surprise, making the airbender jump when he felt her latch onto him.

"I heard that," Sokka said, glaring at Aang. "You might be the Avatar and you and Katara might be dating, but no sharing rooms while I'm around."

Aang rolled his eyes, helping Katara up and pulling her along out of her room. "Relax, Sokka, we're not going to. We're just trading rooms."

"Why?" Sokka demanded.

"Because I can't sleep in there," Katara replied, knowing Sokka must have heard what had happened from Aang. "That's why."

"Oh. Well, anyway, I'm going to need a full description of the guy," Sokka said. "As detailed as you can possibly give so I can report him."

Katara groaned. "Why?"

"First of all, no guy tries to pull anything with my baby sister and gets away with it, and second of all, I just went through my stuff and came to an important realization."

"What?" Aang asked, feeling Sokka was going to follow up with something silly.

Sokka looked peeved. "That _jerk_ stole my favorite pair of socks."


End file.
